Great Britain Formula One Grand Prix: Hamilton wins a mad race

Formula One looked its best today, finally bringing the show every fan was expecting, whether in the stands or in front of the TV set. We came across duels, overtakings, rain, bulging off the racetrack and tense moments, but after all of these passed, one man remained. Lewis Hamilton.

At the entry of the Silverstone venue, once you’ve already passed the Formula One constructors’ headquarters, your eyesight falls on a gigantic banner. “The home of British motorsport”, and from that place on, you breathe, vibrate, feel pure motorsport only. It is the boastful way of the Brits to hall-mark what the circuit means in the entire history of the grand Formula One championship. And today, Silverstone was the stage of a typical British Grand Prix: manly, brave and striking.

Ever since the very start, things turned out completely atypical for this season. Both Mercedes cars started off defectively and Massa and Bottas were there to take advantage of any error. In the first corner, both Williams driver passed by Hamilton and Rosberg, but the current world champion did not accept things the way they were. He charges on the inside in the Village corner and Bottas steps back, losing the second spot. A race neutralizing came right after that, due to a crash between Grosjean and Ricciardo. The French was bounced into Maldonado and both Lotus drivers finish off the race prematurely. In his attempt to avoid the cannon, Alonso steers right, crashes into Button and the Brit is bound to abandon.

After the safety car was out, Hamilton charges on Massa, but fails on the braking point and caves in to Bottas. The Finn seems faster than his teammate, but he is not permitted to attack before too late, when his tyres were already worn out. The Williams strategy proved its deficiency when Hamilton pitted. Lewis makes an exceptional out-lap and comfortably places himself in the lead. Massa and Bottas follow, while Rosberg loses territory after the first stint and reaches the fourth position, trapped behind the Williams drivers.

But rain was to play the critical part in setting up the final ranking. The downpours on the racetrack gave Nico the chance to go for the leading spot, after having managed to pass by Bottas and Massa. The German is putting a terrific pressure and steals 2 seconds in a lap from Hamilton, a pace wherein he would soon go for the lead. But Hamilton makes a finishing stroke. He enters the pits, switches to intermediate tyres, Rosberg must stay out for one more lap and gives away any chance of winning. Lewis wins on his home circuit and widens the gap in the overall ranking.

The people in Williams are agonizing in the new circumstances and are thrown outside the podium by Vettel, as he was more inspired when changing tyres. Morever, Kvyat caught up with Bottas in the end, but eventually managed to finish 5th. Hulkenberg and Perez prove that the new Force India car is truly a high-performance one and they both score from the 7th and the 9th position, being put apart by Raikkonen. He had a great chance to reach the podium, but blew it the moment he decided to pit in order to switch to intermediate tyres. His decision came around 4 laps too soon and Kimi was bound to settle for the 8th place. The final point at stake was surprisingly knocked down by Alonso, as this was actually the first point of the Spaniard this season. Problems are still on though, for McLaren, and this result is nothing but a lucky one. Better thinking, Alonso only finished the race and took advantage of the multiple retirements.

It is a weekend to forget for Torro Rosso. Verstappen went out the racetrack in the first race resuming and Sainz abandoned due to engine malfunction. Ericsson fails to make it into the top 10, while the now classical Manor due finishes the race in the last spots, Mehri first, Stevens last.